Exhibition: Abu Simbel - the Salvaging of the Monuments

Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

To highlight Italy's help in rescuing Nubian monuments during the Salvage Campaign of the 1960s and 70s, a photographic exhibition is on show at Al-Sama Khana. Nevine El-Aref recalls the events as she tours the display

To the beat of Nubian drums at Al-Sama Khana in Sayeda Zeinab, the director of the scientific office of the Italian Embassy in Cairo, Franco Porcelli, accompanied by Rosanna Pirelli, director of the Italian Archaeological Institute and Tareq Shawqi, director of UNESCO's Cairo office, on Monday evening opened a photographic exhibition entitled "Abu Simbel: the Salvaging of the Monuments. Men and Technology".

The idea for an exhibition was dreamed up last year in Rome by the World Wide Artists Association and the Chamber of Commerce in Rome to highlight the role of Italy in rescuing Nubian monuments from the rising waters of Lake Nasser following the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The exhibition was previously shown in 2009 in Rome inside the Temple of Hadrian. The exhibition will later tour some of the principle capitals of Europe and worldwide.

Italian scholars and technicians played a decisive role in the interventions on the most important monuments: the twin temples of Abu Simbel and the Philae complex. So at the request of the UNESCO Cairo Office, the exhibition previously opened in Aswan on the fringe of last year's international conference held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the appeal by Egypt and Sudan for help to rescue the monuments from the rising water.